Coating material spreader for strip material



June 12, 1951 B, c. NEWLOVE COATING MATERIAL SPREADER FOR STRIP MATERIAL Filed Aug. 31, 1946' wr w.\

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INVENTO M W lza By I A TT'OQNE Y Patented June 12, 1951 "CQATINGJMATERIAL SBBEADER FOR STRIP MATERIAL Benjamin Garter Newlove, Pasadena, Calif., as-

signor to Clarence W. Morse, Santa Monica,

Calif.

Application August 31, 19% Serial No. 6.914525 This invention relates to a device for controlling the uniformity of the thickness of coating of a web, band or other elongated member.

An object of the present invention is to provide inexpensive and efiicient means for receiving a web initially coated on both sides with a liquid medium and passing said coated web thereth-rough to accurately gauge the coating of both sides of the web so that the web leaves the device identically coated on both sides.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device for forming .coatings of identical thickness on both sides of a web which is initially adjustable for varying thicknesses of webs and then automatically adjusts itself to variations in said web thicknesses but provides for identically thick coatings under said varying conditions.

My invention also has for its objects 'to provide such means that are positive in operation, convenient in use, easily installed in a working position and easily disconnected therefrom, economical of manufacture, relatively simple, and of general superiority and serviceability.

The invention also comprises novel details of construction and novel combinations and arrangements of parts, which will more fully appear in the course of the followin description. However, the drawings merely show and the fol lowing description merely describes one embodiment of the present invention, which is given *by way of illustration or example only.

In the drawings, like reference characters designate similar parts in the several views.

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a film or coating thickness gauging device embodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a crossesectional view as taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

The device which is illustrated comprises, generally, a pair of similar blocks 5 and 6, side guide plates 1 secured to one of said blocks, the block 5, means 8 for urging the blocks toward each other, and means 9 for initially adjusting the proximity of the associated operative faces ll! of said blocks.

The face I of each block .5 and 6 is fiat and, in use, parallel to each other to provide a uniform passage for a web W initially coated on each side at 1]. Such a coating is of liquid nature and may include emulsions, latex or syn- 2 "bevels are identical to lead the web centrally into the passage between the blocks.

The means '8 is shown as comprising two studs l i anchored in the outward face 55 of each plate l, extending lips E6 on the block 6 and apertured for the studs 14, an adjustable pressure nut 4-! on each stud, and a spring 13 on each stud between its nut and the cooperative portion of the lip it. The nuts can be adjusted to cause the springs 58 to exert yieldingpressure urging the blocks 5 and ii toward each other.

Ihe means 9 is shown as comprising adjust- .able screws 59 in screw seats 2B formed vendwise in the plates l andengageable with the lips it to limit the inward movement of the block faces 10.

In operation, the total thickness of the Web and its final or ultimate coatings are first determined and the screws 19 are adjusted to engage the lips i5 and thereby space the faces iii a like distance. The nuts ll are then taken up to store pressure in the springs :68.

The initially coated web is then passed upwardly in the passage formed by the faces ill and laterally, by the plates 1. The throat formed by the bevels l3 will lead the web centrally into said passage. Inasmuch as the viscosity of the liquid coating on each side of the web is the same, said coatings, hydraulically, will center the web in the passage as the former moves upward therethrough, resultin in a coated web leavin the upper end of the device with coated sides of identical thickness.

The throat will act to squeeze back any excess of coating material and even inadvertently applied forces seeking to shift the web toward one or the other of the blocks will be counteracted by the mentioned hydraulic centering of the web. Should the web be increased in thickness by variations in its uniformity or by a splice therein, the blocks will automatically separate against the pressure of the springs i8 and the thickened portion of the web will receive a coating of a thickness comparable to that of the remaining portions of the coating.

It will be noted that the bevels I3 extend to a point approximately midway of the upper and lower pairs of pressure means 8 and terminate substantially in alignment with the adjusting means 9 and intermediate the studs 14. By this arrangement, the springs 58 may be regulated to obtain a slight rocking movement between the blocks at the lines 20, 21! formed between the vbevels l3 and faces i6. Said lines 25 and 2| serve, in the manner of doctor edges, to scrape the coating liquid therefore, heavy viscous liquids are more readily gauged or regulated.

Inasmuch as the highest pressure is between and along the mentioned lines, the coating is uniformly spread on both sides of the web and then maintained, as spread, by the plane faces :10, producing :umformly thick coatings on both sides of the web. The springs 18 may be of uniform tension or they may be of different initial strength according to the viscosity of the coating.

While I have illustrated and described what I now regard as the preferred embodiment of my invention, the construction is, of course, subject to modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention. I, therefore, do not wish to restrict myself to the particular form of construction illustrated and described, but desire to avail myself of all modifications that may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A device of the character described comprising a pair of blocks having opposed operative faces, each face comprising an upper flat surface and a lower downwardly and outwardly angled surface, said surfaces meeting at a transverse line intermediate the height of the block, said upper flat surfaces cooperating to form a uniform passage for a web having a viscous coating on each side thereof and said angled surfaces defining a lead-in threat for said passage, members carried by the opposit sides of one block and overlapping the opposite sides of the other block to .define the sides of said passage and throat, means independent of the surfaces of the blocks for adjustably spacing the operative faces thereof, said means being carried by one block and having impinging engagement with the other, and means resiliently urging the faces of the blocks toward each other, as spaced by the adjusting means, to place like mechanical pressure on both viscous coatings whereby said pressure on the coatings centers the web in the passage.

2. A device of the character described, comprising a pair of blocks having opposed operative faces, each face comprising an upper fiat surface and a lower downwardly and outwardly angled surface, said surfaces substantially meeting at a transverse line intermediate the height of the block, said upper flat surface cooperating to form a uniform passage for a web having a viscous coating on each side thereof and said angled surfaces defining a lead-in throat for said passage, members carried by the opposite sides of one block and overlapping the opposite sides of the other block to define the sides of said passage and throat, means independent of the surfaces of the blocks for adjustably spacing the operative faces thereof, said means comprising adjustable screws carried by one block and having impinging engagement with the other, studs carried by said one block and extending through lateral portions of the other block, an adjustable element on the extending end of each stud, and adjustably compressible springs on said studs between the latter block and said adjustable elements, said springs resiliently urging the faces of the block toward each other, as spaced by the adjustable screws, to place like mechanical pressure on both viscous coatings whereby said pressure in the coatings centers the web in the passage.

3. A device for controlling the uniformity of the thickness of the liquid coating on both sides of an initially coated web, said device comprising a pair of blocks having fiat, plane and parallel opposed surfaces, said blocks being of the same width, side members carried by the opposite side faces of one block and overlapping the opposite side faces of the other block, said opposed surfaces and the inner faces of said members defining a rectangular web-passing passage, means for adjustably spacing said blocks to space the opposed surfaces thereof to provide said passage with a thickness equal to the thickness of the web and the sum of the 'thicknesses of the side coatings thereof, and means resiliently urging said blocks and their opposed surfaces toward each other whereby the similar viscosity of both coatings hydraulically acts to center the web in the passage to thereby provide coatings of like thickness on the web as the same passes through the passage.

4. A device for controlling the uniformity of the thickness of the liquid coating on both sides of an initially coated web, said device comprising a pair of blocks having fiat, plane and parallel opposed surfaces, said blocks being of the same width, side members carried by the opposite side faces of one block and overlapping the opposite side faces of the other block, said opposed surfaces and the inner faces of said members defining a rectangular web-passing passage, means for adjustably spacing said blocks to space the opposed surfaces thereof to provide said passage with a thickness equal to the thickness of the web and the sum of the thicknesses of the side coatings thereof, the passage being provided with a lead-in throat of symmetrical form to lead the web centrally into said passage, said throat being defined by the mentioned inner faces of the side members and by fiat, plane and opposed angularly related surfaces of said blocks, and means resiliently urging said blocks and their opposed surfaces toward each other whereby the similar viscosity of both coatings hydraulically acts to center the web in the passage to thereby provide coatings of like thickness on the web as the same passes through the passage.

5. A device of the character described, comprising a pair of similar blocks each having a flat surface extending upwardly from a beveled surface, said fiat surfaces being opposed and parallel and said beveled surfaces converging toward said flat surfaces, side members carried by opposite sides of one block and overlapping the opposite sides of the other block, adjustable means for spacing the blocks to form a uniform passage that is defined by said opposed fiat surfaces and the inner faces of said side members and a symmetrical throat that is defined by said beveled surfaces and the inner faces of the side members, and means resiliently urging the blocks toward each other so that said opposed fiat surfaces exert mechanical pressure on an initially liquid-coated web passing through the passage upwardly from the throat to thereby cause said liquid coating to exert hydraulic pressure on the web to center the same in the passage.

BENJAMIN CAR'I'ER NEWLOVE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 788,444 Weil Apr. 25, 1905 930,115 Alley Aug. 3, 1909 2,062,389 Bleiber Dec. 1, 1936 2,271,986 Mungall Feb. 3, 1942 2,280,415 Larmuth Apr. 21, 1942 2,346,697 Mungall Apr. 18, 1944 2,357,420 Moore Sept. 5, 1944 2,380,729 Kierspe July 31, 1945 2,413,216 Cone Dec. 24, 1946 

